The Man Without Fear
by JPalmerGirl
Summary: Matt Murdock, also known as Daredevil is seventeen years old and has been blind since he was twelve, (P.S Don't live in Hell's Kitchen). When he's offered a once in a lifetime chance to be a member of the Avengers, he jumps at the offer. But is the world really ready for a blind superhero? What about the Avengers themselves? Get ready for Daredevil, The Man Without Fear.
1. Chapter 1

_"When life's got you down, keep your head up... you can't see the ground anyway" -Nicole Rae._

Well, didn't that quote explain Matt Murdock's life exactly. The seventeen year old had been blind since he was but a child and he was glad for it, for the same toxic waste that had caused his permanent blindness had also given him a gift, the gift of fearlessness. His senses were enhanced beyond normal human capabilities, ranging in the super-human standpoint. That was why his trademark moves involved him diving off of buildings, cartwheeling off the sides of them with his guide stick clenched between his teeth, the usual. The name Daredevil kind of made sense when you thought about it. Just thinking about it usually made the teenager smile. He remembered the bullies who'd first given him that name as a cruel joke, 'Oh, let's pick on the nerdy kid!', just because he was smart and shy they assumed he was scared of the outside world, prompting the name Daredevil to be created. He'd surpassed them now, at least he liked to think he had.

The seventeen year old shifted nervously, prompting a squeaking noise from the leather couch he was sitting upon. He was in costume, in the middle of the Avengers Tower lobby and was almost biting his nails in his nervousness before berating himself. 'You're The Man Without Fear! Stop acting like a wuss!' But it didn't help, so he just smiled sheepishly and prayed that no one was looking his way. He'd just been accepted anyway, he should've been happy. Instead he was just waiting for them to come out like an overly excited teenage girl on prom night. Then when they did, Matt leapt to his feet, standing at attention in default mode. He began to slowly tap his feet, sizing up the man with his radar sense. He was tall, bald, broad shouldered, wearing a cape and an eyepatch. Then Matt felt dread in the pit of his stomach when he realized just how many weapons this man had on him, more then he could count on both hands.

Then the next five people who emerged were those he assumed to be the Avengers. The first man had tousled hair, a goatee, was dressed fairly casual in a t-shirt and jeans, there was also some kind of metal thing in his chest, so Tony Stark then. Then came a larger man with broad shoulders and stiff muscles, his posture just screamed innocence and nativity, dressed in a white shirt and slacks, Captain America. Right behind him came a three people, one of them was dressed in some otherworldly armor, Thor and two others, one a woman who was dressed in a bulletproof uniform of some kind, Black Widow, the other had a matching outfit and a bow slung over his back, Hawkeye. Then the last person to come out was a man with a slumped posture and a lab coat on, so Hulk's human counterpart. It was Tony who extended a hand towards Matt, which the young man accepted.

"Hey, Dar. I'm Tony Stark, you know Ironman? Billionaire, playboy, philanthropist? You have to know who I am."

"Yeah, I know who you are. You're Tony, he's Captain America, he's Hawkeye, he's the human Hulk, she's Black Widow, and he's Thor. But I honestly have no idea who the hell he is."

Matt shrugged as he shook Tony's hand, motioning to each of the Avengers in turn, before finally pointing at Fury. The room was silent until Tony began to laugh and slung an arm over Matt's shoulder. The teen took the moment to grin and laugh along with Tony.

"I like this guy! That's Fury, ignore the giant stick up his ass."

"Tony! This isn't a good first impression!"

But the playboy, Billionaire, philanthropist, just shrugged and began to calmly argue with the good captain, leaving Matt just smiling awkwardly and being pulled into the conversations by other Avengers, he got a shy hello from human Hulk, who's name he learned was Bruce Banner, a loud introduction from Thor, who enveloped the blind teen in a strong armed hug and splintering squeeze, Matt instantly thought of Foggy. Foggy had been his childhood best friend, the only one to defend him against bullies. He hadn't seen him for a rather long time. If anything, Thor was exactly like Foggy, which made Matt instantly drawn to him. Then he met Clint, the Archer loved to laugh, that was something that Matt knew within the first few seconds with him. Then came Natasha, Black Widow and the first thing she told him off the bat was how many ways she could kill him with just a thumb-tack.

"So what's your real identity, Daredevil? Don't worry, we're all heroes here. Your name won't leave the room."

Steve Rogers, Captain America asked, a soft smile gracing his features and Matt just shrugged as he slowly pulled off his mask, exposing his short fluffy ginger hair, smooth pale skin and those chemically blurred, gray and sightless eyes that had shaped his life so much. It drew more silence from the room and Matt just smiled plainly.

"I'm Matthew Murdock, you can call me Matt."

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Can you see? Because your eyes..they're so...off."

"Yeah, I'm blind."

They questions were shot at him from every corner and he tried to answer promptly. But when he did, the silence was back again and this time it had a quite concerned undertone to it. Matt could feel their heartbeats quicken in concern, it was a skill he had picked up quite quickly. Heartbeats were a telltale sign from the body, if it quickens it usually means that someone is stressed, concerned, worried or lying. If its slow then they're usually telling the truth. But he had to be careful not to focus on the heartbeat, if he did, the sound would overpower him.

"Where are your parents? You're only a minor."

"Well, Mom ditched us when I was a kid and Daddy kicked the bucket a few months ago."

Bruce was the only one who realized, Matt hadn't said 'Daddy' like it was a stupid and patronizing term. He'd said it, like that had been the thing he had actually called his father in life. Bruce was astounded by this blind teenager, he was so happy, like nothing was wrong even though his entire world was nothing but darkness and the kid was an orphan, where was he staying? Apparently he wasn't the only one with concerns because Steve immediately spoke up.

"Where are you staying?"

Matt bristled and winced at the collective concern and firmness of the question. How was he supposed to tell them that he lived in Hell's Kitchen? The most ghetto part of New York, the Bronx looked like a wonderful suburban neighborhood compared to Hell's Kitchen. So the teen just shifted nervously, trying to change the subject with silence, but nobody was buying it so he just sighed and came clean like he usually did.

"My old man's joint in Hell's Kitchen."

"Hell's Kitchen?! Kid, do you wanna get shanked?"

That was Clint's answer and he could tell by the ever bringing silence from the heroes, that they didn't know what Hell's Kitchen was. Good for them. He would've left Hell's Kitchen a long time ago, (_I mean_, _come on, there were containers of toxic waste on the street!_), but keeping his Daddy's boxing ring in working order meant a lot to him. That was where they had shared a lot of their best times, that was where they had made their promises to get far in life. Matt would be reading a book in braille while his Daddy would be socking the living daylights out of a punching bag. It reminded him of his roots and he wouldn't let it go to ruin. Not if he could help it.

"What's Hell's Kitchen?"

"Only the heart of ghetto central. It makes the Bronx look like a cakewalk."

"Sheesh, kid."

Now they got it. But unless you've ever lived in the heart of Hell's Kitchen then you can never really understand life there. It was his home, no matter how successful he was in life, how important Daredevil became. He was always going to be that little blind kid from the ghetto. Nothing would ever change that, he and Foggy were just kids from the streets, but him being a successful lawyer, him being a superhero was going to give Hell's Kitchen a better wrap, you'd better believe it. He'd make sure of it.

"Look guys, my old man's boxing ring is kind of important to me."

"Wait, boxing ring? You said your last name was Murdock right? Like 'Battling Jack' Murdock?"

Of course it would be Tony who'd figure it out, figure out the key to Matt's name and parentage. Though he honestly hadn't thought anyone would remember his dad. Nobody really remembers prize-fighters when they're gone. Their fans don't really care who thy watch when it really comes down to it. When had the Tony Stark heard of his Daddy? He was pretty sure that he had never been to one of his Daddy's many matches. He would have known about it if he had.

"Yeah, he was my old man. Did you see him fight? I honestly thought that nobody cared much about the death of a washed-up old prizefighter." _at least...nobody but him. _

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but he was cut off when suddenly, Matt winced and he reached into the backpack hanging from his shoulder, pulled out a wristwatch, gently popped off the top and stroked the numbers with feather-light touches. Then he cursed fluently inside his head, it was going to be beyond late when he finally got home and he had school the next day. He needed to wake up early to go to school, that was the only time when one brave bus decided to drive through Hell's Kitchen to take them to Midtown Highschool. The only Highschool in the surrounding area.

"Well, it was nice talking to you guys and all, but if I wanna get home in time to wake up for school tomorrow. I'd better go."

Matt shrugged his backpack higher on his shoulders and yanked on his mask, heading over to the closest window, which happened to be on the other side of the room. When a hand lashed out and caught his wrist. It was Steve.

"You're welcome to live here. Tony has enough room."

"Steve! Stop giving away rooms in the Tower!...But seriously kid, our door is always open."

Matt just smiled and shrugged, walking over to the window and giving a mock salute to them, before diving out backwards with the reckless grin that was commonly on his face.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, no eyes!"

Matt just shrugged off the derogatory term and kept on walking, he hated Midtown high. He had eyes, just because he wore sunglasses all the time didn't mean anything. Foggy wasn't there today, he dimly remembered him mentioning that he had a dentist's appointment but Matt had blocked that from his mind, which was honestly stupid but true. He'd only been at Midtown high for three months and already he was getting harassed by bullies. The only reason he'd switched schools after his Daddy had passed away, was to stay in contact with Foggy, his only friend and now he was paying for it. They didn't have any classes with one another and with Matt being the new, blind, poor-as-dirt, nerdy kid..well, he was going to be like fresh meat to them. Just another kid to beat up and throw against a locker and as if to add frosting to the cake, they had already discovered his aversion to loud sounds. High frequency sounds, loud sounds would drive his radar sense crazy and he would be overcome with physical agony.

"Hey, Bat! I was talking to you!"

Derrick , the stupid jock who'd been bullying him since the start, yelled at him again and under his sunglasses, Matt rolled his chemically fried eyes. This meathead seriously thought that Matt was insulted by him, and he wasn't even insulting him right! Matt had been called things ten times worse by his neighbors! That was nothing! He'd been in the Avengers for 3 weeks, true he only showed up for battles but still, he was superhero! He was stronger than this, he knew it. So Matt just stopped in the middle of the hall and turned towards Derrick, spewing out the first facts about bats that he could remember.

"Actually bats aren't blind. The truth is that all eleven thousand one hundred bat species can see and often their vision is pretty good, although not as excellent as many other night-hunting animals."

Matt sighed then grunted in pain as two hands lashed out and shoved him against the lockers. His white cane slipped from his hand and he clutched at his head where white-hot pain had exploded when it connected with the very hard lockers. He moaned and lay against the lockers, cradling his head in his shaking hands. That was when he felt Derrick and several other jocks surround him, they were each carrying a pair of something thin and circular. Matt had no idea what they were until he realized what they were doing, they started smashing them together and the young hero knew with dread, they were cymbals. All the jocks then proceeded to smash them together with great force. It was like an atom bomb going off in Matt's head.

The next thing he knew, he was on the floor. He wasn't exactly sure which way was up anymore and he didn't want to find out. The world around him pitched and rolled, and his head connected with the ground making a sickening crunching noise. That was when he began to sob and he isn't care who saw him, with each cymbal impact it was like a knife being stabbed behind his eyes. But the bullies didn't care, they kept smashing and smashing. Then, just when Matt thought he couldn't feel any worse, the vomit came. He pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, gagging, sputtering, sobbing, choking and gagging yet again. Matt forced his eyes to shut closed and tight, even more tears threatening the corners of his chemically burned eyes. More vomit burned hot, sour and vile over his tongue. His throat convulsed and the contents of his stomach spewed out past his already vomit covered hand. He gagged and tried to stop but he couldn't, more vomit just gushed smell of vomited food and bitter stomach bile was making him vomit again and again.

The bullies were laughing, they were laughing at his agony as he tore at his clothes, scream after scream ripping past his swollen and engorged throat. Then there was silence, but the damage to Matt was already done. He was a mess on the floor, he'd pissed his pants, he was sweating profusely, and he was covered in vomit, his head was throbbing and everything hurt. He couldn't actually tell what position he was in, or which way he was facing, or what was up and what was down. But he needed his Daddy. He needed someone. His radar senses were going crazy and he felt like he was about to die and hyperventilate.

"Hey! Leave him alone!"

Matt groaned as another voice spoke, a voice that he didn't recognize. He also didn't recognize the hands that were helping him up, but he honestly didn't care, his world was spinning and it was pitiful. The nameless person let him cling to them, as they half helped, half carried him away. He was panting, tears still bubbling in his eyes as the person helped him. Then he heard more steps and there was a second person.

"Peter... what? Oh crap, what happened to him?"

"Flash's goons. He's really sick, there's something wrong with him. Can we call someone for you?"

Matt realized that they were talking to him but he didn't...he couldn't function, his head was throbbing and he just wanted to go home, but not to his empty, crummy joint in Hell's Kitchen. Didn't Tony Stark offer him a room in the Tower if he needed it? And he really needed somewhere to sleep that wasn't the floor of a boxing ring and a sleeping bag and some actual food for once. So he leaned against the boy called 'Peter' and stammered hoarsely.

"S-Stark T-Tower...please..."

He groaned and the boy named Peter nodded, he and the other boy slung there arms under Matt's still shaking shoulders and heaved him up and away from Flash's goons.

-TimeSkip-

Matt was panting and covered in sweat by the time the three of the reached Stark Tower, but the young blind teen knew that all he needed was a good nap, a shower and some food and he'd be good as new. But his helpers, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn, (He'd learned his name on the walk over.) seemed overly concerned and Matt had reminded them several times that he was okay, but they didn't seem to be buying it. Matt hoped that it wouldn't be hard to just sneak onto a floor and take a shower before he would come talk to the rest of the Avengers. He just didn't want them to see him when he was covered in his own piss, vomit and sweat. But his fears were dashed when they actually entered the building. JARVIS's voice sounded from the ceiling almost instantly.

"Good afternoon, Master Murdock, Master Osborn and Master Parker. Would you like me to alert Master Stark and the other Avengers to your presence? I would suggest you do, as you seem to need some form of medical assistance."

Matt winced as the British voice sounded from the ceiling, his sensitive ears were still throbbing and any sound made him want to bang his already aching head against the wall. But what really surprised him was when Peter stepped forward to speak to the AI with some degree of familiarity.

"Yeah, Jar. Could you have them waiting when we get to the common floor?"

JARVIS voiced his affirmative and Matt let himself drift away, lulled by the gentle motion of Harry and Peter as they helped him up to the elevator. He dimly realized that they were talking about something, but Matt had stopped paying attention to the two best friends a long time ago. His headache began to lessen as he stopped thinking entirely and hummed lightly. Then the headache returned as the elevator stopped on the common floor, which was utterly packed full of Avengers and there is nothing quiet with Avengers around. And Clint was the one who saw him first.

"Oh God!"

Matt didn't need to see, to register all the looks of concern and anger that came from the Avengers, their bodies were practically pulsing with it. Then all hell broke loose, there were people yelling to one another about what to do, what had happened, how they could help him and tears began to bubble in Matt's eyes again, wetting Peter's shoulder. Why couldn't they realize just how much pain he was already in.

"Shut up! He's in a lot of pain! Flash's goons started smashing cymbals all around him, ones he have some kind of supersonic hearing because he went nuts."

Peter growled, instantly shutting up the Avengers. But it was for reasons that frankly, Matt wasn't going to understand, not when his brain was practically cooking in his head. Then he felt soft hands on his face, gently lifting up his chin, removing the sunglasses from his face and taking his temp. He could smell the scent of aftershave and mint tea leaves so he knew that it was Bruce. It was times like those that made Matt's heart ache. His Daddy was dead, so no more father-son bonding, no more of those moments like the one Bruce was providing for him now. It honestly made Matt practically him in contentment.

"Woah! Guys, I think he's gonna...!"

That was all Matt knew before he slipped into unconsciousness.


End file.
